Tammy Sytch is trying to get the DUI manslaughter conviction that sent her to prison thrown out, and the judge who reviewed her first attempt warned her that winning could leave her facing more time than she is serving now.
According to court filings obtained by PWInsider, Sytch filed a motion earlier this month arguing that her defense attorney was ineffective. Her central claim is that her defense never properly investigated whether the March 2022 crash legally caused the death of 75-year-old Julian Lasseter.
Sytch points to medical information obtained through civil discovery. She says those records show Lasseter had a history that included coronary artery disease and other serious conditions. She also cites toxicology findings and injuries she says were consistent with CPR performed at the scene. In her view, all of it should have been investigated before she entered her plea.
She also raised a conflict-of-interest claim. Sytch says her defense never discovered that lead Assistant State Attorney Ashley Terwilliger was married to physician Zachary Terwilliger, who declared Lasseter’s death.
She asked the court for an evidentiary hearing, new counsel if necessary, additional discovery, and an order vacating her judgment and sentence. That would open the door to a new trial or other post-conviction relief.
Judge Dismisses Motion, Warns Of Longer Sentence
On October 21, Volusia County Circuit Court Judge Christian Miller dismissed the motion as “facially insufficient.” The dismissal turned on procedure, not the merits. The filing lacked sworn statements that Florida requires, including statements about the truth of the motion and Sytch’s ability to understand English.
Miller also spelled out the risk. Sytch’s sentence came from a negotiated plea, and if she gets that plea thrown out, prosecutors are no longer bound by the deal. Charges that were dropped could come back. A conviction on all the original charges could carry up to 26 years, well beyond the 17 years and six months she received.
That number has come up before in this case. Before her 2023 sentencing, the State of Florida filed a memorandum asking for 26 years in prison.
Sytch now has a choice. She can keep fighting the dismissal and try to reopen the case, or she can drop the claims and keep her current sentence safe.
How Sytch Got Here
Sytch, the WWE Hall of Famer known as Sunny, pleaded no contest to charges from the crash in Ormond Beach, Florida. She was sentenced in November 2023 to seven years on the DUI manslaughter count, to be followed by eight years of probation, and 10.6625 years on the count of causing death while driving with a suspended or revoked license. The two prison terms run consecutively.
The medical records in her new motion trace back to the Lasseter estate’s lawsuit, which ended with a $5 million civil judgment against Sytch in April 2025.
This is not her first attempt to cut her time. She appealed the sentence shortly after it was handed down. In January 2025, Judge Karen A. Foxman denied her request to have the two prison terms run concurrently. Sytch remains at Lowell Correctional Institution in Florida.
